A lug nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks, and other large vehicles utilizing rubber tires. Stud and nuts are used to secure wheels and tires to a vehicle allowing easy removal for replacement or repair of a tire due to wear and tear. A typical lug nut can be described as being a nut with a threaded interior and a hexagonal shaped exterior and sometimes with a rounded or conical (tapered) end exterior, the latter being used for aesthetic reasons. Lug nuts are used on steel and most aluminum style wheels. One or more lug nuts are used to secure a wheel to a threaded wheel stud to a vehicle's axles. Generally, wheel studs are semi-permanently mounted directly to the vehicle brake drum or disc hub in a circular pattern. The studs extend axially away from the drum or hub. A wheel and tire are placed over the studs with the lug nut securing the wheel and tire to the vehicle. Besides securing the wheel to the vehicle, many lug nuts have been designed and manufactured to provide a pleasant view of the tire. Wheel coverings can come in many types of alloys and finishes, but the preferred finish is a chrome or polished steel facade.
Due to the number, detail, and type of finish on lug nuts, there are increasingly more products and devices dedicated for the cleaning and polishing of the lug nut and wheel area. There are many chemical cleaners on the market to remove road grime, dust and oils. The chemical cleaners usually tout their ability to remove the various types of road dirt while ensuring the wheel covering and lug nut are not chemically corroded, pitted or damaged by use of chemical cleaners. Additionally, there are many types of devices that are used for cleaning the area around the stud and lug nut, including: U.S. Pat. No. 458,425, Wheel and Lug Nut Cleaning Tool, issued to Large (June 2002) disclosing an ornamental design for a wheel and lug nut cleaning tool. Utility patents have been issued for the same purpose, including; U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,932, Lug nut and hub cap and rim receptacle cleaning device, issued to Buzard (issued June 2004), disclosing a tool or device used for cleaning vehicular lug nuts or lug nut covers and the surfaces of lug nut or lug nut cover receiving receptacles of hub caps or rims.
In addition to patented items for this purpose, there are many commercial items on the market that accomplish the task of cleaning wheel studs and lug nuts. The number and type of decorative wheel coverings has increased as well with truck operators wanting to improve the appearance of their trucks and trailers. The market for the various types of decorative wheel covers has increased greatly over the last twenty years. Several of the patented items for wheel covers include, U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,092 issued to Maxwell (issue date February 2004) which discloses a decorative wheel cover for the wheel of a truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,749 issued to DiMarco (issue date December 1998) which discloses a covered lug retention assembly for a wheel cover. U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,570 issued to Wieczorek (issue date October 2000) which discloses a wheel cover having a one-way locking mechanism and decorative nut cap. There are many other patents, both utility and design patents, which disclose decorative, wheel covers.
Another aspect of the wheel cover is the utility in protecting the lug nut and wheel stud from road dirt and grime and corrosion from water and salt, and in many climates, freezing. Many of the decorative wheel cover patents include the utility of preventing road dirt and grime from contacting the threads and contact point of the lug nut and wheel studs. Grime, dirt, moisture and other road material that is able to contact and penetrate the openings and pathways communicating with the threaded studs engaging the lug nut can cause corrosion and weakening of the securing capability of the lug nut. U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,658 issued to Patterson et al. discloses a device that covers the lug nut and wheel stud in a casing that has grease or some similar type water resistant material within.
As such, there is an unmet need for a decorative wheel cover that provides protection for the wheel stud and lug nuts from corrosion, road dirt, grime and moisture. Such a device should be configured to securely mount on the different lug nut spacings of different wheels using the same component for both. Such a device should be configured for a secure frictional engagement thereon, but also provide for easy removal when access to the underlying lugs and lug nuts is desired.
Additionally desirable is a configuration of such a lug protective and ornamental cover which is also easy to clean and provides the user with a pleasant ornamental appearance.
Additionally, such a lug cover should be easily engageable to a secure engagement due to the high rotation speed of the wheels to which it mounts, yet should also allow the user to quickly remove it from such a mount should the user be required to replace worn or flattened tires. The covering should be able to stay on a vehicle tire under normal and extreme conditions a typical tire could experience. Lug nut covers mentioned in the prior art fall short of one or two of the ideal cover while this invention provides a cover that will be readily and easily cleaned, easy to put on and take off, and provides for the protection of the lug nut and wheel stud from corrosion, dirt and grime.
With respect to the above, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the wheel cover providing corrosion protection to multiple sized and spaced lug device in detail or in general, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of employment and to the arrangement of the components or the steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The various apparatus and methods of the herein disclosed invention are capable of other embodiments, and of being practiced and carried out in various ways, all of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art once the information herein is reviewed.
Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for other wheel lug covers capable of multiple engagements on differing lug and nut sizes. It is important, therefore, that the embodiments, objects and claims herein, be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.